1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cover for an external portion of an internal combustion engine. The cover has one or more flexible, fluid-tight joints to allow more rigid portions of the cover to be hingedly moved with respect to each other during installation of the cover upon an engine.
2. Disclosure Information
The engine compartments of automotive vehicles have grown increasingly crowded through the years, as more and more componentry is added to vehicles. Although it has always been desirable to maintain leak-free engines, this task has grown more difficult because the use of one-piece covers continues to be inhibited by the requirement that covers be readily removable to permit maintenance operations to be performed upon an engine. Unfortunately, large one-piece covers may not always be used because of the difficulty of installation and removal. On the other hand, multi-piece covers while permitting installation, also provide additional leak paths for fluids such as coolants, and lubricants. It would be desirable to provide a cover which is both fluid-tight and yet locally flexible, so as to promote ready installation upon an engine situated within a crowded engine compartment.